Kikuta Kotaro
Kotaro was the head of the Kikuta family of the Tribe, and therefore, alongside Kenji, one of the two co-leaders of the Tribe. Possessing most (if not all) of the traditional Kikuta powers, Kotaro was a first cousin and (for a time) close friend of Kikuta Isamu, father of Otori Takeo. Although Kotaro never married or had any children of his own, he trained his nephew, Kikuta Akio, as his heir. Kotaro served as a supporting character who initially helps Takeo transition into his new role as a member of the Tribe, hinting that, because of his talents and bloodline, Takeo may even displace Akio as Kotaro's heir. However, after Takeo rejects the Tribe as his father did, Kotaro issues a death sentence against him and repeatedly sends the Tribe's assassins after him, though each time they fail. After Muto Kenji- once Kotaro's ally- turns against the Kikuta and brings most of the Tribe to Takeo's side, Kotaro attempts to kill both of them, but is finally defeated and killed. Heaven's Net is Wide During the events of Heaven's Net is Wide, Kotaro and other members of the Tribe were tasked with finding and eliminating Isamu, as he had forsaken the Tribe, which broke their most fundamental law: no one leaves the Tribe. Kotaro and his colleagues drew lots to determine which one of them would kill Isamu and he was chosen; he experienced some internal conflict, as while he and Isamu had always been rivals (with Isamu usually getting the better of him) they were also close relatives and friends, or as friendly as was possible within the Kikuta family. Kotaro tracked Isamu to the village of Mino, where Isamu had converted to the peaceful ways of the Hidden, and confronted him, making it clear it was not personal. Isamu fled into the mountains (intending to lead Kotaro away from his wife Sara and thus protect her) with Kotaro in close pursuit. Isamu finally halted, and, even though he could have probably defeated and killed Kotaro, instead forgave him for killing him, refusing to defend himself. Though unnerved by Isamu's actions and conflicted, Kotaro obeyed the will of the Tribe and killed his cousin by stabbing him in the heart. Neither of them knew, however, that Sara was pregnant with Isamu's son, who would eventually grow up to be Otori Takeo and would inherit most of his father's powers. Kotaro soon became head of the Kikuta family and thus the most dominant member of the Tribe, though he always treated the Muto Master, Muto Kenji, with friendship and respect. He steered the Tribe towards working with Iida Sadamu, who paid the highest price for their services of espionage and assassination. The alliance between the Tribe and the Tohan led to the Tohan's crushing victory over the Otori in the Battle of Yagaehara, as the Tribe uncovered the Otori's secret alliance with the Seisshu families and helped Sadamu bribe the Noguchi into betraying the Otori. On one occasion, Kotaro himself carried out the murder of Lady Maruyama Naomi's young son with the Kikuta gaze, causing something of a rift between himself and Muto Shizuka, Kenji's niece. Despite continuing to profit from their work with Iida, the Tribe began to decline in subsequent years- intermarriage between the families had depleted the gene-pool, and fewer and fewer children with Tribal talents were born. Across the Nightingale Floor After the death of Kuroda Shintaro (who was hired by the Otori lords Shoichi and Masahiro to assassinate their nephew, Otori Shigeru) the Tribe became aware of Takeo's presence in Shigeru's house and Kenji went to investigate. Initially apprehensive, Kotaro became quite pleased when he learned that Takeo had inherited virtually all of Isamu's talents, including invisibility, the second self, and the Kikuta hearing. He was alarmed, however, by Shigeru's plot to use Takeo to kill Iida Sadamu. Despite Sadamu's cruel leadership, Kotaro saw his regime in the Three Countries as a source of order, which the Tribe needed in the long run in order to flourish; his death would deprive Kotaro of one of their main employers and ignite chaos. He was also concerned with preserving Takeo's life, both out of a possible desire to atone for killing Isamu and because Takeo's talents could be a great benefit to the Tribe in a time when their gifts seemed to be dying out. Therefore, despite Kenji's longtime friendship with Shigeru, he and Kotaro ultimately decided to kidnap Takeo before the assassination could take place. Enraged and frantic on his capture, Takeo was soon confronted by Kotaro, who attempted to calm him by understanding his dual nature and revealing his connection with Takeo's father- though he did not reveal that he himself had killed Isamu. When Takeo still refused to calm his emotions, Kotaro put him under the Kikuta gaze and rendered him unconscious. When Kotaro returned, Takeo had received Jato (Shigeru's ancestral sword) through Kenji's daughter Yuki. He threatened to kill himself (thus denying the Kikuta his service and abilities) unless they agreed to negotiate. In return for Takeo's service, Kotaro agreed to allow him to rescue Shigeru (who had been arrested, accused of treason and tortured by the Tohan). However, Takeo went beyond their conditions by attempting to kill Sadamu (the only reason he failed was that Shirakawa Kaede already killed Sadamu). With Sadamu's death, the Three Countries' future was uncertain as Arai Daiichi became the next most powerful warlord. When Takeo relocated to the temple at Terayama with Arai (having taken credit for Sadamu's death) Kotaro contacted him via Shizuka, declaring that unless Takeo joined them immediately and renounced his Otori inheritance, he would be killed by the Tribe. Takeo ultimately relented and joined them. Grass for His Pillow Kotaro met with Kenji, Takeo and several other Tribe members in a concealed room of a Tribe house near Terayama to discuss Takeo's future. Despite Takeo's obvious value to the Tribe, neither Kenji nor Kotaro were able to continue supervising his training (both at furthering his skills, and at acting out various roles to hide his Tribe identity) as they were needed to maintain the Tribe's business empire and find a new main employer to replace Iida Sadamu. The new overlord of the Three Countries, Daiichi, was enraged with the Tribe for having taken Takeo and decides to mount a campaign to destroy them and arrest Takeo. Takeo was therefore sent northeast to the Kikuta village of Matsue to train under Akio, with whom he had a mutual hatred. This proved rather short-sighted of Kotaro, as Takeo tended to respond to empathy rather than the brutal discipline of the Kikuta; his rivalry with Akio did nothing to build his obedience to the Tribe. On the off-chance that Takeo is unable to prove a valuable addition to the Tribe, Kotaro had Kenji's daughter, Yuki, seduce Takeo in the hopes of siring a child with equally strong talents, which the Kikuta could raise from birth. Although Takeo's training and initiation as a killer seemeded to be going well, Kotaro was disturbed to learn from Yuki that Shigeru had had prior knowledge of Takeo's Tribe powers before adopting him; he had known of Takeo's identity before even the Tribe had, and this indicated that Shigeru had been compiling information about the Tribe for some time. He confronted Takeo about this, attempting to obtain some admission of guilt, but to his astonishment Takeo not only resisted the Kikuta gaze, but temporarily used it on Kotaro himself. His patience nearly exhausted, Kotaro ordered Takeo on a mission to infiltrate Hagi, intending to give him one final chance to prove his loyalty: he was to find, interrogate and eliminate Shigeru's old tutor, Ichiro, and learn the location of the Tribe records. He later learned that the mission was a total failure; Takeo escaped and nearly killed Akio, renouncing the Tribe and fleeing to Terayama to seek his Otori inheritance again. Kotaro then issued a death warrant against Takeo on behalf of the Kikuta and sought an alliance with the Otori lords, who would naturally target Takeo to secure their own legitimacy. Twice during Takeo's flight through the mountains, he was attacked by Kikuta assassins, but both times he was able to defeat and kill them. Worried about the loyalty of the Muto (and especially Yuki) Kotaro had her moved to a Kikuta village outside the eastern border of the Three Countries, intending to use her as a hostage against Kenji until her child by Takeo was born. Yuki was also married to Akio, who could be counted on to raise Takeo's child to hate him so that he might one day be used to kill his father. Brilliance of the Moon Kotaro moved to Hagi so that he could communicate directly with his new employers, the Otori lords Shoichi and Masahiro. Both they and the Kikuta sought Takeo's death, for various reasons; Kotaro ordered at least three more Tribe assassination attempts on Takeo, the last of which was carried out by Kikuta Hajime. All three resulted only in the deaths of the assassins. Realizing Yuki would prove an obstacle in his attempt to make Takeo's son hate him, Kotaro ordered Akio to poison her after the child was born. This was a serious strategic mistake by Kotaro, as it eliminated his leverage over the Muto and inflamed Kenji against him. Knowing that Takeo, in possession of the Tribe records, could help him defeat the Kikuta, Kenji negotiated an alliance with Takeo on behalf of the other four Tribe families. After Takeo's final victory at the Battle of Hagi, Kotaro lay low in the city until the chaos caused by the earthquake had subsided. As night fell, he attempted to enter Takeo's house, but was prevented by the Nightingale Floor; Takeo heard him and confronted him. Kotaro confirmed Takeo's accusation that he had killed Takeo's father Isamu, explaining that his unconditional obedience to the Tribe meant that he would even sacrifice close friends and family if so ordered. He believed Isamu and Takeo had been unable to achieve this obedience due to being "tainted" by their Otori blood. Kotaro then attempted to kill Takeo with a poisoned knife; although he managed to severely maim Takeo's right hand, he was soon confronted by Kenji and Muto Taku as well. Kotaro put up a desperate fight, injuring all three of his opponents, but was eventually overpowered and killed by Kenji and Takeo. Takeo's wound was poisoned by Kotaro's knife, and crippled his right hand for the rest of his life. Akio succeeded Kotaro as Master of the Kikuta, declaring a permanent blood feud against Takeo to avenge Kotaro's death. Personality and Tribal talents Kotaro is generally calm, cold, practical and deadly in any situation. Unlike his nephew Akio, who is zealous and short-tempered, he has largely mastered masking his emotions (though in his younger years he displayed a somewhat cocky nature) though everyone is immediately aware if he is angry, even though he does not raise his voice. While better than Akio at masking it, though, he is just as devoted to the Tribe's rigid, unbending and harsh ways- which ultimately causes him to kill his cousin and close friend, Isamu, in cold blood despite his hesitation. Detached and casual about killing, he speaks of committing murder (even that of children) in a way that is callous, yet he is not cruel so much as extremely ruthless and practical. Although he understood Takeo's conflicted nature perfectly and tried to empathize with him in that respect, Kotaro just as quickly made contingency plans for Takeo's death in the event that he proved as disloyal to the Tribe as his father- sending Yuki to sleep with him and forcing him to train with Akio, who had a personal feud against him. While not impulsive and emotional like Akio, many of Kotaro's plans were short-sighted. For example, his decision to have Yuki killed because she would prevent the Kikuta from using Takeo's son against him caused the entire Muto family to defect to Takeo, taking the other three families with them. Kotaro never shows affection and demands total obedience of all members of the Tribe, though before the splitting of the Tribe he treated Kenji (his fellow Master) as a friend and equal. He possesses many of the Tribe's strongest abilities, including invisibility, the second self and the enhanced hearing and sleep-bringing gaze of the Kikuta. Kotaro is a master of martial arts, poisons and pressure points, as well as an excellent knife fighter, able to hold his own for some time against both Kenji and Takeo before he was eventually overwhelmed. Category:Kikuta Family Category:Tribe members